Integrating pattern grammar and local grammar into the identification of constructions and the development of a pedagogical constructicon in EAP context: An exploratory study

Abstract

This study explores the possibility of integrating pattern grammar and local grammar into construction grammar research and the value of such research for EAP writing pedagogy. Using data taken from a corpus compiled from Linguistics research articles, our study shows that local grammar analyses of grammar patterns help to identify ‘pattern-meaning’ combinations. We further describe the functions of such combinations in academic contexts and argue that they can be interpreted as constructions at the mid-level of specificity. We also demonstrate the organisation of these constructions into a constructicon for pedagogical purposes. The implications and applications are subsequently discussed, highlighting in particular that the constructicon not only offers an inventory of pattern-meaning pairings available to express meanings, but also provides quantitative information about the association between verbs and constructions. Overall, our study indicates that the integration of pattern grammar, local grammar and construction grammar could be of immense potential value for EAP writing research and pedagogy.